Glass beaker with gold and red enamel

Mamluk dynasty, AD 1300-20
From Cairo, Egypt

Fish and eels

Glass vessels with enamelled and gilded decoration were among
the most sought after products of Mamluk craftsmen. Many bear the
official titles and blazon of the Sultan or one of his officers.
Others were decorated in a less specific style and sold to wealthy
Egyptians or exported across the world - to China, Europe, the
Middle East, Arabia and other parts of Africa.

Delicate glass beakers such as this provided a luxurious
alternative to heavy, thick-walled, pottery drinking vessels.
Filled with red wine, they are held by sultans and courtiers in
contemporary paintings, sometimes with a matching glass decanter
placed nearby. Fish often feature in the decoration of these
beakers as a pun on their function. Eels are rarer; they may have
been intended to add a note of local realism as eels are plentiful
in the Nile. The sight of fish and eels frolicking in red wine
would have reminded the drinker of the aquatic life visible through
the muddy waters of the Nile.

H. Tait, The golden age of Venetian gla, exh. cat. (London, The British Museum Press, 1979)